Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins

  This Christmas season has been one for brunches....and I'm loving it! Brunch is one of my favorite meals. I like making food for brunches, but I really like to eat all the delicious food that I normally don't take the time to make for breakfast. =)
  My Aunt had one for Mom's birthday, which was the fourth one I have been invited to in the past month and I have one more look forward to on Christmas Eve day. Anyway, I have been using these brunches as a good excuse to try new recipes.....I wanted to make something sort of Christmas-y for this one so when I saw these muffins I knew they were what I was going to make. The combination of tart cranberries and sweet chocolate was wonderful I thought. They are also quite quick and easy to mix up and bake. {which is a plus of course!}

Cranberry  White Chocolate Muffins 

yield: 18 muffins

 2 cups flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter, melted & cooled

2 eggs

1 cup cranberries, fresh or dried {I used fresh}

1/4 cup white chocolate chips {I added a few extra}

In a mixing bowl beat together eggs milk and melted butter. Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add to egg mixture and beat until blended.  Stir in the  cranberries and white chocolate chips. Fill paper lined muffin tins and bake @ 350* for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. 

I sprinkled some silver sugar on top before baking to give them a bit of pop.

  Everyone who ate one commented on how they enjoyed them, but we had such a big variety of food that not many got eaten, but I was fine with that =) Was able to bring them along home and for us to enjoy....Daren had tried one before I took them to the brunch, {just to make sure they were edible ;)} and he really liked them so he was glad to see some come back. =)

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And suddenly there was with the angel a 

multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men." 

~St. Luke 2:13&14

Christmas blessings to you all!

♥ Sheila   

 

   

Doughnut Muffins

  October 29 and SNOWING?!?! No, I am definitely not ready for that! It was very pretty, but it is still October after all! It was snowing a bit Friday night, but I really was not expecting it to amount to much at all....well, to my surprise when I woke up Saturday morning it was still snowing and the ground was white. Not cool, especially when it is still supposed to be fall. Thankfully it didn't last too long and the sun soon melted most of it. Have you figured out yet that I am not a big fan of winter? =) I try not to complain too much though because it is a part of God's planning and creation.
   Daren was getting off shift and I wanted to have breakfast ready for him when he got home. I hadn't made muffins for awhile, {at least not for ourselves} and wanted to try some that I had never made. I found this recipe and it sounded easy and good so decided to try them.

Doughnut Muffins

 yield: 24 mini muffins

   1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup flour

Topping:

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix sugar, butter and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the milk. Mix in baking powder and flour just until combined.

Grease 24 mini muffin cups. Fill about half full with the batter. Bake @ 350* for 15-20 minutes until tops are lightly golden.

Meanwhile melt the butter. In a separate bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon. When the muffins are finished baking remove from the tins, dip in butter and roll in the sugar mixture. Let cool.

  They turned out great....really did taste kinda like a doughnut. {I think it's the nutmeg} I love the small size too, especially when your serving other things as well. A regular sized muffin can be a bit too much. For breakfast this morning I stuck them in the microwave to warm them up a little and ate them with a cup of hot tea....almost enjoyed them more the second time around! =)

 

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Better is one day in Your courts

than a thousand elsewhere.

~Psalm 84:10

Blessing on your day! =)

♥ Sheila 

Blueberries & Bananas

  I love blueberries. They are such a delicious & healthy snack....so when I saw a big container of them at the grocery store the other day I just HAD to have them. :) Needless to say I have been enjoying them to the fullest!! Since I was going to work at the greenhouse today I thought I would make something with blueberries to take for our morning break.....I was thinking muffins would be good & I also had some bananas that needed to be used so I went on a search for a recipe I thought would suffice....found one that I thought looked delish & spent my evening baking muffins! :)

~ Banana Blueberry Streusel Muffins ~

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cup(3 lg.) mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries

In a large bowl beat butter & brown sugar until fluffy.

 Add bananas, milk, vanilla & eggs; blend well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Gently stir in blueberries. Fill greased or papered muffin cups 3/4 full.

Streusel Topping-

3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp butter, melted

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Combine all ingredients in a bowl & mix until crumbly.

Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350* for 18-23 minutes. Cool 3 minutes; remove from muffin cups.

Yield- 18 muffins

They were well received at the greenhouse this morning!  I baked them in a mini tart pan instead of a muffin pan (they came out so cute!) & I also added a little cinnamon to the batter as well.....they don't need to bake as long if you use the tart pan; only about 10-12 minutes. 

The finished product....so yummy!!! =)

  ~Sheila